A Government minister has condemned the banning of press photographers from taking pictures of children and young people taking part in sporting or school activities.
Many local papers have encountered problems in taking traditional school pictures because of bans imposed on photographing children, in what is seen by newspapers as a misguided attempt to combat paedophiles.
It led Society of Editors executive director Bob Satchwell to claim there was a “lost generation” of children whose achievements were not being recorded in the local press.
Now Sports Minister Richard Caborn has told Satchwell in a letter: “I agree with you that children should be given every encouragement when they achieve success. Such praise can only help to encourage them to greater achievements and success.”
Caborn added that the Child Protection in Sport Unit, a partnership between Sport England and the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, is producing a new protocol for photography at sports events.
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